Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 16 minutes ago
The international ban on the coca leaf has long been debated without the meaningful participation of the communities who have lived with the plant for generations. The documentary “Erythroxylum Coca. The Confused,” focuses on the voices of indigenous and peasant communities in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.
The documentary is a response to the critical review by the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, published in December 2025, which recommended that coca leaf should remain on Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The film documents different landscapes and practices related to the plant in regions such as Los Yungas and Cochabamba (Bolivia), Quillabamba and the VRAEM (Peru), and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Cauca (Colombia).
Through community stories and testimonies in territories historically linked to cultivation, the traditional, cultural, and ancestral uses of the coca leaf in the Andean countries are vindicated. The film also sends a message to international organizations about the decision to keep the plant under the strictest levels of international control.
Directed by Nicolás Martínez and Daniel Pineda
More information: tni.org/en/dossier/who-critical-review-of-coca-leaf
The international ban on the coca leaf has long been debated without the meaningful participation of the communities who have lived with the plant for generations. The documentary “Erythroxylum Coca. The Confused,” focuses on the voices of indigenous and peasant communities in Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.
The documentary is a response to the critical review by the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, published in December 2025, which recommended that coca leaf should remain on Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The film documents different landscapes and practices related to the plant in regions such as Los Yungas and Cochabamba (Bolivia), Quillabamba and the VRAEM (Peru), and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Cauca (Colombia).
Through community stories and testimonies in territories historically linked to cultivation, the traditional, cultural, and ancestral uses of the coca leaf in the Andean countries are vindicated. The film also sends a message to international organizations about the decision to keep the plant under the strictest levels of international control.
Directed by Nicolás Martínez and Daniel Pineda
More information: tni.org/en/dossier/who-critical-review-of-coca-leaf
